WebMSX – Online MSX Emulator
webmsx.org
webmsx.org
I always wanted an MSX when I was a kid and collecting 8 bit computers (this was when 8 bit computers were still somewhat useful; I bought, fixed, and sold them for spare cash and would keep the most interesting ones). I had almost everything I read about in magazines come across my radar during those several years, including ridiculous stuff like an Apple Lisa with several hard disks, a TRS80 with every imaginable expansion (including the big expansion backplane case), a Coleco Adam, and more Commodore machines than you can shake a stick at.
But, alas, MSX just wasn't common in the US, and I never found one.
Turns out you can, with the caveat that you it won't look quite right unless you enter "SCREEN 1" first:
10 PRINT CHR$(1)CHR$(93.5+RND(1));: GOTO 10
* The "SCREEN 1" statement puts the display into the second text mode, which has 32 columns and 8x8 characters. The default text mode is 40 columns and 6x8 characters, truncating the rightmost quarter of each character. All of the non-graphical characters are squeezed into the first six columns, so the default mode has no downside unless you want to use graphical characters.
* The diagonal line characters are at points 29 and 30 in the international (i.e. non-Japanese) version of the MSX character code table (see http://www.tabalabs.com.br/msx/msx_tech_hb/msxtech_tabalabs...., page 317 (page)/320 (PDF)). However, the first 32 character values are normally interpreted as control codes instead of printable characters. To actually print those 32 graphical characters, you need to precede each one with control character 1, followed by character (desired character value + 64). So if you want character 29, you PRINT CHR$(1)CHR$(93). (BTW, the characters past 95 appear to print the same with or without a proceeding CHR$(1). I dunno.)
Unlike the C64, the MSX also has a pair of triple-diagonal characters, so you can make a denser maze like this:
10 PRINT CHR$(203.5+RND(1));: GOTO 10
10 PRINT CHR$(1)CHR$(93.5+RND(1)+INT(2*RND(1))*110);: GOTO 10
I've never used an MSX or C64 before, but since I'm interested in generative art, I've became curious about these program when a book with the same title was released:
I've just typed the implementation by Ricardo Bittencourt (http://www.ricbit.com/mundobizarro/twoliners/) and it works. BGM included: https://imgur.com/a/PnE0s
Tried to do a loop that breaks automatically but there might have been a bug